Simeon survives to play for fourth straight title

Friday

Mar 15, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 15, 2013 at 11:28 PM

Simeon advances in Class 4A state tournament

Erich Murphy

Chicago Simeon is looking at doing something at the state finals that has only happened one other time — win a fourth straight state championship. The Wolverines advanced to the Class 4A title game with a 68-56 win over Proviso East in a rematch of last year’s championship game. Simeon will be facing surprising Stevenson of Lincolnshire. The Patriots upset Edwardsville 60-49 in the late semifinal.Simeon 68, Proviso East 56 Simeon had a fight on its hands until late. Proviso East had a couple leads early and stayed around, pestering the Wolverines to the end. The Pirates outscored the reigning champions 23-21 in the middle two periods and only trailed by a 43-41 count after three quarters. The Wolverines finally created some separation in the last stanza by increasing their defensive pressure and letting the stars take over. All-American Jabari Parker and Illinois recruits Kendrick Nunn and Jaylon Tate were instrumental in leading the Simeon surge that saw the two-point edge sharpen to a 49-41 in the first 1:35 of the period. Proviso got no closer than four points the rest of the way. That came when Illinois State recruit Paris Lee connected with 4:22 remaining for Proviso East to cut the margin to 55-51. “We tried our best effort but to beat a three-time state champion you have to almost play a perfect game,” Proviso East head coach Donnie Boyce said. “Their height advantage kind of slowed is down.” The Wolverines relied on Parker, Russell Woods and Kendall Pollard to control the inside and force the Pirates into a perimeter game. The Simeon defense was also able to lead into offense. The Wolverines had 10 fast break points in the fourth quarter. “We were able to exploit some of the stuff we talked about in our preparation,” Simeon head coach Robert Smith said. “We understood that we could possibly get to the basket on them off the press and be able to finish at the basket.” Even with stars Parker, Nunn and Tate, it was a sophomore who stepped up at crucial moments for the Wolverines. Edward Morrow had 6 points a rebound and a blocked shot in the second half as Simeon held serve and then put the Pirates away. “Edward Morrow stepped up big for us and was able to get us some easy baskets, he got a dunk and he got a big block,” Smith said. Parker had his stellar game with 20 points and 15 rebounds for Simeon (29-3). Pollard added 15 points and Nunn tossed in 14. Parrish McCullum had 19 points for Proviso East (29-4). Sterling Brown and Jevon Carter chipped in 12 points apiece and Lee added 11.Stevenson 60, Edwardsville 49 The surprise team of the weekend may very well be Stevenson. The sharpshooting Patriots burned Edwardsville by hitting 10 of 18 shots from beyond the 3-point line, including going 6-for-9 in the first half when they built a 30-20 advantage. “All year we’ve been able to hit 3s consistently, so we weren’t going to change anything,” said Stevenson senior guard Andrew Stempel. “It’s still a basketball court; a bigger gym but we still had to come down and do what we are good at.” The game was tied at 15-15 after one period but Stempel hit a shot inside the arc to start an 11-2 run early in the second quarter. Justin Berkson followed with a 3-pointer and Stempel buried a 3 as the lead grew to 23-15 with 5:48 left in the first half. “It seemed like in the first half every shot we gave them they made them,” Edwardsville head coach Mike Waldo said. “The schemes of our defense we executed pretty well. They made a couple of tough corner 3s. It’s one of those things.” The shooting of the Patriots was hot enough in the third quarter to fend of an early charge by the Tigers. Edwardsville got to within four points in a matter of 76 seconds. Stevenson countered by building the lead back to 10, at 40-30, with three minutes to go in the period and wasn’t seriously challenged the rest of the way. Jalen Brunson had 21 points for the Patriots (29-4). Stempel added 14 and Connor Cashaw threw in 13 points. Garret Covington led Edwardsville (30-3) with 18 points. Shawn Roundtree added 13.